Elly gave a sigh. “All right, let’s get to work.” She was answered with a loud moan.
Working briskly beside one another in a perfected dance, Elly and Snarky Teenager transformed the bare field—it’s overgrown, yellow-green grass blowing in the wind—into an organic and modern ceremony site. Natural fruitwood chairs fanned out from the art piece, their bases surrounded by tiny succulents, accented with sharp pieces of black bamboo. The metal arch stood starkly against a bright-blue sky, which looked hazy with the rising humidity. Several ferns were placed around the base of the arch. Elly glanced up while repotting a succulent. “Oh. That looks great—I can’t even see the cinder blocks.”
Snarky Teenager stepped back to admire her work, her skirt hiked up so that she was almost mooning Elly. Who wears a skirt to a wedding delivery, Elly thought.
“Of course you can’t see them! I know. I’m, like, so amazing.”
Elly laughed. “Could you be amazing at pulling your skirt down? I’m going blind over here. Help me finish with the garland and we can head inside.”
Snarky Teenager halfheartedly yanked her skirt down before tying a hemp garland across the aisle. Elly stood up and brushed off her khaki pants. Smiling, she pushed the damp hair off her face and hummed quietly to herself. She stopped when she realized that Snarky Teenager was staring at her. This alarmed Elly. “What are you staring at? Aren’t you supposed to be misting the plants?”
“Nothing.” A sly grin crawled across the teenager’s face.
“No really, do I have soil on my face?” Elly looked around for a mirror. There was a reflective statue across the park that she could walk to….
“No, really. It’s just …,” Snarky Teenager smiled. “You’re sweaty and you’re smiling. What I mean is, you’re never happy when you’re sweating. You’re always a snappy, miserable beast.”
“This is getting better and better,” Elly mumbled as she quickly fashioned a decorative wreath out of curly willow.
“Elly.”
Elly looked up, surprised. Snarky Teenager actually sounded quite sincere.
“I just wanted to say I’m glad to see that Keith is making you so happy. If you’re smiling when you are covered in sweat, then he must be doing something right.”
Elly couldn’t hide the blush bubbling up from below her cheeks. Yes, he was definitely doing something right.
Snarky Teenager began jumping from foot to foot. “Okay, enough of that—is it groomsmen time yet? Is it?”
Elly laughed. “Okay, okay, we’re going. Try to keep the hormones in check. I don’t want to be responsible for any sexual harassment suits. You know, against you.”
Snarky Teenager nodded. “Gotcha.”
Once they were in the sculpture museum, Snarky Teenager bolted for the groomsmen, boutonnieres in hand, while Elly followed a winding cement hallway to a room washed in natural light. It reeked of patchouli and incense. Three women stood clustered around a dilapidated easel mirror, all staring at themselves. Elly crept in silently and placed the bridal bouquet—an asymmetrical masterpiece, filled with olives and olive leaves, tiny oranges, succulents, plum grapes, and dripping moss—on the desk. She turned to leave, coughing awkwardly in the thick air.
“Elly?” The bride turned around, her pretty brown eyes wide with concern.
Elly smiled at her. “Oh, Jonna. You look beautiful.” Elly repeated the speech she had said to so many: “I don’t know that I have ever seen such a stunning bride, and I see a lot of brides.” Elly bit the inside of her cheek. She meant every word, each time she said it. Each bride was beautiful. In the back of her mind, however, she knew which bride had been the most beautiful. Lucia, the woman who had married her ex-husband. Thinking her name didn’t cause her spasms of pain like it used to. Now Lucia’s name elicited nothing more than annoying twinge in her heart. It was liberating. Jonna walked toward her, a gorgeous muslin dress shifting loosely around her body. Elly smiled and placed a crown of rust-orange waxflower on her honey curls. Jonna was a true hippie, ripe and earthy. She had been so laid-back throughout the process, and Elly had loved working with her. The mother, not so much. But Jonna had been simply lovely.
The bride wrapped Elly up in a quick hug. “Thank you so much for everything you did for us. My bouquet is … oh …,” she clapped her hand to her mouth, “oh my goddess. Are those oranges?”